HBO green lights series about a world where the Confederacy won

COLUMBIA, SC - JULY 18: A member of the Ku Klux Klan gives a Nazi salute as the Klan members fly the Confederate flag during a demonstration at the state capitol building on July 18, 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. Hundreds of people protested the demonstration as law enforcement tried to prevent violence between the opposing groups.

HBO has reportedly given a green light to the creators of Game of Thrones to produce a series about a fictional world where the Confederacy won the Civil War and slavery is still legal south of the Mason-Dixie line. The reactions to this idea have been strong, yet polarizing.

The series, currently entitled Confederate, “takes place in an alternate timeline, where the southern states have successfully seceded from the Union, giving rise to a nation where slavery remains legal and has evolved into a modern institution,” reads a press release. “The story follows a broad swath of characters on both sides of the Mason-Dixie Demilitarized Zone – freedom fighters, slave hunters, politicians, abolitionists, journalists and the executives of a slave-holding conglomerate and the families of people in their thrall.”

Many fans who heard this news, especially people of color, are strongly against David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, two white men, being given the license to create a world that would make any white nationalist or “alt-right” supporter faint in a euphoric bliss.

Would it be original to see this kind of speculative fiction? Absolutely. But would it be tasteful, appropriate and worthwhile despite the horror it would surely depict? Probably not so much.

Take a look at some of Twitter’s reactions below:

Pitch all your ideas with the base confidence that they are made better by not giving more airtime to confederate Civil War/nazi successes.

Tagged:

Keith Reid-Cleveland is a proud product of Chicago’s Southside and the Missouri School of Journalism. The Black Youth Project News Editor has written about politics, race and entertainment for multiple publications, such as Uproxx, The Undefeated, Black Nerd Problems, Comic Book Resources and more.